Evaporator



Fehz, 1923. 1,446,994

H. SIEBEN EVAPOR'ATOR Original Filed June l5, 1921 INVENTOR Etf ATTORNEY Henny z'elmsvz.l

HENRY SIEBEN, OF 2'? KOERIER, OF

F l C CITYfMISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 LEO E SAS CITY, MISSOURI.

EVAPORATR.

Application led June 13, 1921, Serial To all whom t 'may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY SIEBEN, citizen of the United States, residingat Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Evaporators; and I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccomp-anying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon,Which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a moisture evaporator, and particularly toclothes driers. One of the objects of the inventionis to provide anefficient, durable and inexpensive means for inducing a current ofheated air to circulate in the casing'of the evaporator so as todissipate the moisture, the moisture laden air being exhausted from thecasing, preferably in such manner as to cause a counterflow so that theperiodof time that the moisture-absorbing air will remain in the casingwill be suflicient to take up a maximum amount of moisture, and therebyeconomically evaporate the moisture from the clothes or other articleswithin the casing. This is an important feature because if the timeperiod, due to the fact that the stream passlng from the impeller to theexhaust is too short, the heated air will-be exhausted before it hasattained its maximum eiiciency, but by providing for a counterflow, theair may remain in the casing, in

some cases reaching substantially the point of saturation, before itexhausts, thus reduc.- ing the time required to dry ythe articles withinthe evaporator or casing.

I have also provided means whereby the e'ective arrangement of thecasing may b'e varied, the means being shown as consisting of anadjustable' baille which will bend the stream lines of impelled air toany point between two extremes so that if a fractional part of thecasing is provided with. clothes, or other articles from which themoisture iS. to be evaporated, the baffle may be adjusted nearer theimpeller, but if the maximuin capacity of the device is to be employedthen the bae will be adjusted at the maximum distance from the impeller.vThis is also an important feature of my invention.

' In the drawings,

No. 477,049. Renewed January 22, 1923.

llFig. 1 is a perspective View of an evaporator constructed 1naccordance with my inventlon.

Fig. 2 is a vertical, longitudinal, sectional 'View through the same.

F1g. is a fragmentary, perspective view of a unit for heating andimpelling the air to be clrculated within the casing, and

Fig. 4 1s a fragmentary perspective view of one end of the drier.

The casing is shown as consisting of a substantially rectangular hollowbody havlng a bottom 1,1 top 2, ends 3 and 4, back Wall 5 and front wall6. The front wall is provided with an opening 7 which may be closed byhinged doors 8 and 8. The par ticular form of the casing, however, maybe varied to suit requirements. In the end wall 4 of the casing and nearthe bottom thereof is` located means for heating the air to becirculated within the casing, and there is also means for inducing thecirculation or impelling the air. The air impelling means and theheating means may be constructed in unitary form by providing aremovable stove or casing 9, which is substantially rectangular andwhich may be introduced'- through an opening 10 in the wall 4. Thecasing 9 is open at its inner end as indicated at 11, the opening beingpreferably provided with a screen 1 2, as clearly seen in Figs. 2 and3.V 0n the bottom 1is also shown a rail or support 13, upon which theCasing 11 may rest when it is in its unctional positio The easing 11 isprovided with a heat source 14 which maybe a gas burner as' shown orwhich may consist of otherysuitable means for generating heat.Immediately above the burner, however, 1 prefer to arrange a radiator,which is shown as consisting 'of a sheet 15 with a plurality ofupstandmg conical projection-s 1 6 immediately below the tubular portion17 for the air impeller. The air impeller is shown as a motor driven fan18, the diameter of which is slightly less than the diameter of thetubular portion 17, there being an air inlet 19 so that air may beintroduced through the casing above the radiator-and be directed intothe casing of the evaporator. rlhe streamlines of heated air willinitially be directed longitudinally of the casing until they strike thearcuate bae20, or 21, resting upon the bottom of the casi when they willbend and be directed it is used, it will be supported above the Afloorof the casing so that some of the an' -will pass beneath it and contactwith the baffle 21. When the bail'e '20 is used, the streams of air willbe divided so that some of them will be diverting, while the others willpass the maximum distance before being bent upwardly to exhaust throughtle opening 22. This is clearly indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2. j

While the evaporator may be utilized for a multitude of purposes, I haveshown it as particularly designed for drying clothes and to this end Ihave shown a plurality of clothes lines, indicated at 23, 24 and 25.Therefore, it will be apparent that the air will be circulated over andIbetween the garments supported by the lines 23, 24 and 25 before' itpasses out through the exhaust 22, and it will also be apparent byrefer# ence to Fig. 2 that some of the air issuing from the casing 11will immediately rise to absorb some of the moisture in the garments,but that the maximum amount will pass longitudinally of the casing andthen counter-flow tothe exhaust at the top of the casing, so that theair will remain in the casing the maximum length of time to absorbthemaximum amount of moisture 1 before it exhausts.

The lines 23, 24 and 25 are connected to hooks fastened to the end 3 andto the partition wall 26 (see Fig. 2). The partition Walls are spacedfrom the Walls 4 so. as to provide an air conduit 27 communicating withthe interior of the casing through the opening 28 and with the flue 29through the opening 22. The opening 10 through which the case 11 isprojected into the main casing is covered by a flap 9 which carries thefan motor 18 and is adapted for oompletely closing the opening so thatair is taken into the casing only through the air intake port v19,whereby a closed system oli circulation may be provided, or other airmay be taken into the heater and the saturated air delivered from theclosed chamber according to` position vof the valves or gates 30 and 30.A

In order to accomplish this I have provided two hinged valves or gates30 and 30', the former of which is adapted to close 0E the opening 22and the latter of which is adapted to close the opening 22. The valvesor gates 30 and 30' are hinged to the pintles or shafts 31 and 32,which` extend through the w-all 6 of the casing and carry segmentalgears 33 and 33'; the segment 33' carrying an operating handle or lever34' `(see Fig. 1).

IIf it is desired to cause the air 'topass through the drier casing in acontinuous stream, the valves or gates 3() and 30 will be caused toassume the position shown in Fig. 2 and the handle 34 will be in theposition shown in Fig. l. If it is desired to return the air in a closedcirculating system through the casing, the handle 34 will be raised,causing the valve or gate 30 to close the opening 22 and the valve orgate 30 to close lthe opening 22. Then the air circulated by theimpellerwill pass into the casing, through the opening 28, down the conduit orflue 27, through 19 and back through the impeller in a continuous closedcirculating stream so that its temperature will 'be raised by passing itrepeatedly over the heating element and thereby the air within the driercasing can be raised t a relatively high temperatureI so as to morequickly drythe clothes than would be possible Where the How of the -airis continuous from the inlet end through the liuc 29. y

It will be apparent that the clothes or other articles from which themoisture is to be evaporated may be conveniently placed within thecasing and that the casing can be closed so as ,to protect the contentsfrom dust, dirt and other extraneous matter during the drying process,and that an eiiicient, simple and inexpensive evaporator may beprovided.

What I Aclaim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. An evaporatorl comprising a casing having an air inlet and an airoutlet, means within the casing for heating the air, an impeller fordirecting the air in a stream line, and a baffle adjustable toward andaway from the impeller to bend the stream line to cause a counterflow ofthe air within the casin 2. inhevaporator comprising a casingy having anair inlet at one end and, anair outlet at the same end and above the airinlet, means adjacent to the inlet for heating the air, an air impellerfor directing the heated air longitudinally of the casing in a streamline, 'and means for bending thestream line of air upwardly to cause itto counteriiow through the exhaust opening.

3. Anevaporator comprising a casing having an air inlet and an airoutlet, means adjacent to the inlet for heating the incoming air, saidmeans comprising a heater and a radiator above it, an impeller above theradiat'or for directing the incoming air lonlthe second mentionedcasing, and an air impeller carried by ythe second mentioned conduit inone end of the casing, the casing 4casing for directing the airlongitudinally having -an air inlet opening into the conofthe irstmentioned casing. duit, an exhaust flue having its inlet end 5. Anevaporator comprising a casing connected tothe conduit, the conduithaving 15 5 having an air inlet and an air outlet, means lan air inletfrom the casing and an` air for heating the air' entering the casing,and discharge into the casing, and valves for means for simultaneouslyclosing the air inclosing the first namedA inlet and the inlet let andthe air outlet, said means also being to the flue. l v eiective tosimultaneously open the air inlet In testimony whereof l aiiiX mysignature. 20 10' and air outlet.

6. An evaporator comprising a casing, a HENRY SIEBEN.

